DoctorFinger
12-09-2008, 07:55 AM
Gaming News Story of the Year
Vivendi and Activision merge to become Activision Blizzard - Did you know that Electronic Arts is no longer the largest game publisher in the world? Did you know that they lost the crown to Activision even before they merged with Vivendi to form Activision Blizzard? Whatever the case, A-B is still the biggest dog on the block, and in the process they seem to have also taken the crown of 'most reviled' company in gaming. Add to that the 800-pound gorilla known as Blizzard - you may have heard of one of their products, World of Warcraft - and you get a single entity most capable of turning the rudder of the industry. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick now knows what it's like to be on top after numerous incidents in which quotes made by him were pushed to the forefront by the games press and either greatly embraced or roundly ridiculed by gamers.
"The Year of the Casual Gamer" - To me the 'moment of the year' occurred during Nintendo's E3 press conference. For the better part of a hour I - along with innumerable other gamers - sat at my computer as a parade of so-called 'casual' games were trotted out by Nintendo's brain trust. But I kept watching, anticipating that Nintendo would come through for us 'core' gamers. Would it be a new Kid Icarus? A peek at the next Zelda? Could there be some other franchise, some other property, the Big N could whip out of the archives and unleash upon the Wii owning public. We ended up with Wii Music and a whole lotta nothing. This more than anything cemented 2008 as the year that casual gaming moved to the fore, possibly to the detriment of 'core' gaming. Increasingly publishers are pushing titles aimed not at 20-35 year old males, instead unleashing waves of games centered around karaoke, yoga, and instrument playing designed to appeal to all of the other demographics out there. And the class of gamer who had previously been the sole paramour of the industry is beginning to feel - right or wrong - like a spurned lover.
Ensemble Studios to Close after Halo Wars - A lot of console gamers weren't too familiar with the name Ensemble studios, creators of PC-centric strategy fare like Age of Empires, but even the console crowd was taken aback by the announcement that Microsoft would be shuttering the studio after they complete work on the RTS Halo Wars. Nearly a year before the game even ships, and the death mark is on the development house. In a year in which a number of studios and houses went under, this was the most shocking.
Itagaki's divorce from Tecmo - Tomonobu Itagaki was a rock star. The flamboyant head of Tecmo's Team Ninja was super cool force behind the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises, and was one of the more well known developers in the industry. Which makes his acrimonious exit from Tecmo earlier this year all the more fascinating. The details of the divorce are still somewhat nebulous. Here's what we know. Itagaki and Tecmo were sued over allegations of sexual harassment at the workplace. Itagaki denied the allegations, at one point reportedly denigrating his accuser in earshot of a reporter, and on the surface life moved on, including the launch of Ninja Gaiden 2. But behind the scenes, things were more complex. While a court eventually found Itagaki not guilty of actual harassment, Tecmo was reportedly upset with his treatment of their employees, especially the female ones, allegations they leaked to the press. Itagaki was also angry that a bonus he felt he was obligated to receive had not yet materialized. Combine that with what he felt were disrespectful statements made by Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda and the damage was done. Just days before Ninja Gaiden 2 launched, Itagaki quit Tecmo, and in the process filed suit to recover the money he's felt he's owed. What does this mean for Team Ninja's two marquee properties? Tecmo will undoubtedly go forward with them, but will gamers feel the same way about them without the flamboyant Itagaki at the helm?
Final Fantasy XIII announced as multiplatform - Final Fantasy XIII heading to the Xbox 360 was the dream - or sometimes the nightmare - of fanboys across the world. When Microsoft announced at the climax of their E3 address that Square Enix' cash cow would be coming to the 360, the reaction was immediate, and entertainingly explosive. While industry watchers expected it eventually, the revelation was still huge. We've known for a long time that third-party exclusives were an endangered species, and this was just confirmation of that trend. A tangent to this story is the tale of Bungie's Halo: ODST. It was supposed to be announced at MS' E3 presser, and Bungie was even teasing something huge. Then, nothing. Microsoft forced Bungie to hold off on the announcement (until September's TGS) rather than possibly blunt the Final Fantasy XIII announcement.
Bungie's split from Microsoft - The story many of us thought would never, could never, happen. Bungie, the studio responsible for the Xbox' biggest cash cow, Halo, splitting from Microsoft. The split was mostly amicable - Bungie will still be working on Halo games for at least a little while longer - but the people at Bungie were clearly worried that they'd be working on nothing but Halo until the end of time if they didn't act when they did. The whole E3-Halo: ODST kerfuffle didn't help matters too much, but releations between Bungie and Microsoft are still said to be pretty good. At least they will be until Bungie announced their first Playstation game...
Vivendi and Activision merge to become Activision Blizzard - Did you know that Electronic Arts is no longer the largest game publisher in the world? Did you know that they lost the crown to Activision even before they merged with Vivendi to form Activision Blizzard? Whatever the case, A-B is still the biggest dog on the block, and in the process they seem to have also taken the crown of 'most reviled' company in gaming. Add to that the 800-pound gorilla known as Blizzard - you may have heard of one of their products, World of Warcraft - and you get a single entity most capable of turning the rudder of the industry. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick now knows what it's like to be on top after numerous incidents in which quotes made by him were pushed to the forefront by the games press and either greatly embraced or roundly ridiculed by gamers.
"The Year of the Casual Gamer" - To me the 'moment of the year' occurred during Nintendo's E3 press conference. For the better part of a hour I - along with innumerable other gamers - sat at my computer as a parade of so-called 'casual' games were trotted out by Nintendo's brain trust. But I kept watching, anticipating that Nintendo would come through for us 'core' gamers. Would it be a new Kid Icarus? A peek at the next Zelda? Could there be some other franchise, some other property, the Big N could whip out of the archives and unleash upon the Wii owning public. We ended up with Wii Music and a whole lotta nothing. This more than anything cemented 2008 as the year that casual gaming moved to the fore, possibly to the detriment of 'core' gaming. Increasingly publishers are pushing titles aimed not at 20-35 year old males, instead unleashing waves of games centered around karaoke, yoga, and instrument playing designed to appeal to all of the other demographics out there. And the class of gamer who had previously been the sole paramour of the industry is beginning to feel - right or wrong - like a spurned lover.
Ensemble Studios to Close after Halo Wars - A lot of console gamers weren't too familiar with the name Ensemble studios, creators of PC-centric strategy fare like Age of Empires, but even the console crowd was taken aback by the announcement that Microsoft would be shuttering the studio after they complete work on the RTS Halo Wars. Nearly a year before the game even ships, and the death mark is on the development house. In a year in which a number of studios and houses went under, this was the most shocking.
Itagaki's divorce from Tecmo - Tomonobu Itagaki was a rock star. The flamboyant head of Tecmo's Team Ninja was super cool force behind the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive franchises, and was one of the more well known developers in the industry. Which makes his acrimonious exit from Tecmo earlier this year all the more fascinating. The details of the divorce are still somewhat nebulous. Here's what we know. Itagaki and Tecmo were sued over allegations of sexual harassment at the workplace. Itagaki denied the allegations, at one point reportedly denigrating his accuser in earshot of a reporter, and on the surface life moved on, including the launch of Ninja Gaiden 2. But behind the scenes, things were more complex. While a court eventually found Itagaki not guilty of actual harassment, Tecmo was reportedly upset with his treatment of their employees, especially the female ones, allegations they leaked to the press. Itagaki was also angry that a bonus he felt he was obligated to receive had not yet materialized. Combine that with what he felt were disrespectful statements made by Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda and the damage was done. Just days before Ninja Gaiden 2 launched, Itagaki quit Tecmo, and in the process filed suit to recover the money he's felt he's owed. What does this mean for Team Ninja's two marquee properties? Tecmo will undoubtedly go forward with them, but will gamers feel the same way about them without the flamboyant Itagaki at the helm?
Final Fantasy XIII announced as multiplatform - Final Fantasy XIII heading to the Xbox 360 was the dream - or sometimes the nightmare - of fanboys across the world. When Microsoft announced at the climax of their E3 address that Square Enix' cash cow would be coming to the 360, the reaction was immediate, and entertainingly explosive. While industry watchers expected it eventually, the revelation was still huge. We've known for a long time that third-party exclusives were an endangered species, and this was just confirmation of that trend. A tangent to this story is the tale of Bungie's Halo: ODST. It was supposed to be announced at MS' E3 presser, and Bungie was even teasing something huge. Then, nothing. Microsoft forced Bungie to hold off on the announcement (until September's TGS) rather than possibly blunt the Final Fantasy XIII announcement.
Bungie's split from Microsoft - The story many of us thought would never, could never, happen. Bungie, the studio responsible for the Xbox' biggest cash cow, Halo, splitting from Microsoft. The split was mostly amicable - Bungie will still be working on Halo games for at least a little while longer - but the people at Bungie were clearly worried that they'd be working on nothing but Halo until the end of time if they didn't act when they did. The whole E3-Halo: ODST kerfuffle didn't help matters too much, but releations between Bungie and Microsoft are still said to be pretty good. At least they will be until Bungie announced their first Playstation game...